Garment holding clip



Dec. 12, 1939. L, OUVER 2,182,853

GARMENT HOLDING CLIP Filed Aug. 20, 1938 54 FAWJZ ATTORNEYS.

Patented Dec. 12, 1939 UNITED STAT ES OFFICE GARMENT HOLDING OLIP Lee Oliver, New York, N. Y., assignor to The Con- I necticut Web and Buckle Company, Bridgeport, Conn, a corporation of Gon necticut. U I Application AugustZO, 1938, Serial No. 225,877

3 Claims. 1-. 24.-.25s)

This invention relates to new-and useful improvements-in garment holding clips; and has particular relation to clips of the type to be used for attaching a supporting strap, as the strap 01 2. suspender or the like, to a garment.

An object of the invention is to provide a clip for the purpose indicated-and which while suspended from a strap, tape or the like maybe easily-and quicklyappliedtoan edgeportion of a garment, andwhich -will securely grip-the garment for the support thereof.

Another object is to providea clip including a two part construction comprising a clip body and a lever so'constructed asto be readily as-- sembled without the use oftools.

Other objects and advantageswill become apparent from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in-connection with the accompanying drawing wherein a satisfactory 2O embodiment of the-invention is shown. However, it is to be'understood that theinvention is not limited to'thedetails disclosed, butincludes all such variations and modifications as fall within-the scope of the invention andof-theappen'ded;

claims. 7

Inthe drawing:

Fig. 1- is'a front'elevational viewof my improved clip, the same being shown closed-and attached to the lowerend ofone strap of a susponder;

Fig. 2 is an-edgeelevational View of theparts of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a rear elevational viewof such parts;

Fig. 4-is a longitudinal'sectional view-through 35. the assembly of Fig. 1; 1

Fig. 5 is aside elevational viewof-the clip, the same being shown open and the view showing the manner of applying the clip to a garment;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view showingthe 40 blank from-which the body of the clip is formed;

Fig. 7 is an edge view of the blank of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 1s a viewsimilar to Fig.- 6 but showingthe blank partly formed;

Fig. 9 is anedge view of the partly. formed 45 blank of Fig. 8;

Fig. IO'is-a front elevational view of the clip to.thelstrap.the latter has its end portion I3 looped about a. bar or connectingportion [4 of the lever II, and may be providedwithany or theusualadjustingslide or-bucklel5.

Clip. body lli. is formed of asingle piece of spring-metal, and the blankfor such body is shown. at 16in Figs. 6 and 7. The blank includes hook-shapedears [1 arranged at its edges to- Wardone of itsends. Inwardly ofthe ears ll the-blankis provided with lateral-projections I8; 10 and adjacent its innerendwithlateral projections- 1 l 9 \and. end projections 20, the purpose of all of which-will fully appear.

Figs. 8. and 9 show the partly formedblank, andthere itwillbe noted thatthe blank has been 15 folded along the dotted lines 2 I I of Fig. 6 wherebytheears. l'kextend forwardly of the body of the blank: and .whereby to provide forwardly extendingljaw portions 22. The extreme upper end portionwof the blank has i. been bent to extend 20. forwardly providing a jaw portion 23.

Anintermediate, portion 24 of the blank has been. forced rearwardly providing a transverse. groove or depression 25:, and below-such depression the lateral and end projections l9 and20 25 have been bent .toextend forwardly providingjaw or grippingportions designated 26-and 2 1: respectively; Projections l8 remain in the plane ofnthebodyof the blank.

Aftenthe blank'has beenformed up as in Figs.- '39 8 and9. it is bent uponitself whereby to provide the clipbody. l0, whichas shown includesfro-nt and rearaarms. 28 andlflrespectively. connected at-their. upper ends. The body. 10 being of spring. metal itawill'ibeclear. thatthearms 28 and 29 may. be.v forced. toward oneanother whereby to movetheir jawportions 30 and 31 (which jaw portions comprise-the free endportions of the arms). towardone another and into closed rela tion.

Normally thearms 28 and-'29 tend-to spring apart. tohavethejaws 30 and 3-l---open. Thelever H, is operable to move the arms-toward one another. and 1. thereby. close the jaws. Lever 'l l in .additiozrto the connecting bar l Aincludes. side arms 32. and 33.; which are connected by. such. portion. 14, and. a. bar. 34. connecting. they lower. endsof the. arms 32. and.

. .Bar 34:.of.the.lever. projects out of the .plane of 1 the lever as clearly shown in Figs-..1-1 and-12',

earsiljl; andlhere it;is.-ncted.that;-such ears. have.

their open sides toward the body of the clip, and that such ears, while carried by the arm 28, project across the edges of the arm 29.

In assembling the lever on the clip body the arms of the latter are squeezed toward one another, as in Fig. 13, and the jaw portions of the body are passed between the lever arms 32 and 33 with the bar 34 of the lever against the clip body. While the clip arms are being squeezed together the lever bar 34 may be passed into the hook-shaped ears I! as suggested by the full line showing in the mentioned Fig. 13, and on the arms of the clip body being released they spring apart carrying the lever bar 34 into place as shown in dotted lines.

The parts are then positioned as in Fig. 5 with the lever forwardly of the body and with the jaws 30 and 3| open. movement of the body it may be disposed with its jaws at opposite sides of the garment, a portion of which is shown at 36,.and thereafter the lever H is swung rearwardly to position it substantially in the plane of the clip body as shown in Figs. 1 through 4. In such figures the cam portion 35 of the lever is in a position forcing the arm 29 toward the arm 28 of the clip body and therefore the jaws 30 and 3| are closed.

It is to be particularly noted in Fig. 5 that when the clip is released the lever II is extending forwardly from the body I0 of the clip and also the body of the wearer of the garment 36. Therefore the clip body I0 can be easily slipped downwardly over the upper edge of the garment while this body and the garment are in a natural vertical position. It is thus not necessary either that the lever ll be forced backwardly against the body of the wearer of the garment or that the upper edge of the garment be pulled outwardly away from the wearers body and into an unnatural position in order to slip the clip on over the edge of the garment.

It is noted particularly in Fig. 4 that when the jaws 3|] and 3| are closed the cam 35 has entered the depression 25 in the clip arm 29 which will offer a resistance to movement of the cam out of the depression, whereby the lever will not be casually moved or swung relative to the clip body to permit the clip jaws to open. As the jaw 3|] includes the forwardly turned por- :tions 22 and 23, and the jaw 3| includes the similar portions 26 and 21, it will be apparent that any material between the jaws will be securely gripped when the jaws are closed. The portion 21 is preferably provided with teeth 20 and the edge 23 may have teeth if desired. Portions 23 and 21 hold the garment against slipping from the clip while the portions 22 and 26 grip the garment to prevent the clip sliding sideways on the garment by a lateral pull on the web I2. 7

Movement of the lever rearwardly with respect to the body Ill, as from the position of Fig. 5 to that of Fig. 2 is limited whereby when there is a tension on the clip the lever may not swing backward to a released position. The limiting means mentioned comprises the ears or projections l8 on the clip arm 29 which act in conjunction with lateral extensions 31 on the inner edges of the lever arms 32 and 33 as shown in Figs. 1 and 5.

Thus, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the extensions 31 of the lever are in engagement with the ears l8 of the clip body whereby when the lever has been swung backward to a position substantially in the plane of the body of the clip fur- Now by a vertical ther rearward movement of the lever relative to the body is prevented, it being understood that at such time the cam 35 has entered into the notch or depression 25.

Extensions 3'! on the lever arms also serve to prevent excessive forward swinging movement of the lever relative to the body Ill. The lower portion of the arm 28 of the body is somewhat wider than the upper portion thereof as clearly shown in Fig. 1 whereby on forward swinging movement of the lever relative to the body the lower ends or shoulders 38 of extensions 31 of the lever arms will engage the forward face of the lower portion of the clip arm 28 and prevent excessive movement of the lever such as might result in separation of the lever and clip body.

Attention is directed to the fact that when the clip is open the arm 29 extends across the inner open sides of the hook-like ears carried by the arm 28 and pressure caused by resiliency of the body member retains the lever in these ears |l. Therefore the arm 29 serves to prevent separation of the lever from the clip body. When the clip jaws are closed the lever age and tension on the parts serves to prevent any casual separation of such parts. The length and width of the jaws 33 and 3| is such, relatively, that the jaw 3| may move into the jaw 30 when the jaws are squeezed together as shown in Fig. 13 for assembly or disassembly.

With this combination and arrangement the parts can be easily assembled but they are effectively held against separation by the shape of the hooks, and also by cooperation therewith of the resilient action of the body member.

Having thus set forth the nature of my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a clip of the class described, a body comprising a pair of arms connected at one end and having their other ends providing normally open gripping jaws adapted to be forced closed, a pair of ears on one of said arms and extending therefrom across the edges of the other arm, said ears including in their lower edges similar hook-shaped portions the open sides of which are toward the arms, a lever including portions pivotally mounted by said hook-shaped ear portions, and said other arm of the body extending across the open sides of and closing said hookshaped portions when said jaws are open whereby to prevent casual separation of the body and lever.

2. Ina device of the class described, a onepiece clip body comprising a pair of integrally connected arms yieldable toward each other and provided with gripping jaws at their free ends, one of said arms having ears on its opposite edges intermediate its length and extending toward the other arm, a lever, means pivotally mounting the lever between and within said ears, said-lever including spaced side arms and a connecting bar between the outer ends of said arms for attachment to a strap, a connecting bar between the other ends of the arms having a laterally extending cam means to engage the outer wall of the other arm to press the jaws together as the lever is swung to the plane of the body and to permit the jaws to separate as the lever is swung forwardly to a position extending transversely of the body, and projections on the edges of the second arm projecting inwardly into the path of the arms of the lever to prevent movement of the latter rearwardly over the body.

3. In a clip of the class described, a one-piece body comprising a pair of arms connected at one end and having their other ends providing normally separated gripping jaws adapted to be forced toward each other to grip a garment, a pair of ears on the side edges of one of the arms and extending across the edges of the other arm, said ears comprising similarly shaped hooked portions in their lower edges the open sides of which are toward the arms and directed laterally substantially in the plane thereof, a lever 10 including spaced side arms connected at their outer ends by a bar for connection to a strap, a second connecting bar between the inner ends of the side arms and adapted to enter said hooks to pivot the lever on the body, said second bar including a laterally extending cam means between the ears to engage the outer wall of the second body arm to press the arms together when swung into the plane of the body, and said cam means being located to permit insertion and removal of its lever bar through the open sides of the hooks when the arms of the body are pressed together and said connecting bar is sub- 10 stantially parallel with the plane of the body.

1 LEE OLIVER. 

